Washington (CNN) - Ed Markey disinvited former Georgia Congressman Ben Jones from performing at his fundraiser on Tuesday evening in Washington claiming that he did not know the former Dukes of Hazzard star supported the Confederate flag as a symbol of southern culture.

"Ed Markey only learned about Ben Jones' comments yesterday, he strongly disagrees with them and we asked Jones not to be part of last night's event. Ed believes such confederate relics are highly offensive, and should not be displayed in public settings, period," Markey's Senate Campaign spokesman Andrew Zucker said.Follow @politicalticker

Jones played the character "Cooter" on the CBS hit television show that aired from 1979 until 1985.

Markey formally supported Jones and publicly donated to his campaign against Douglas Wilder in 1997 for a Virginia Congressional seat.

The NRSC sent a press release Wednesday morning joking, "Apparently Markey is the only person over the age of 40 who doesn't know Cooter from the Dukes of Hazzard supports the Confederate flag. And Markey knows him personally."

The Boston Globe was the first to report that Markey disinvited Jones from his event. According to the Globe (LINK), the invitation to the fundraiser requests $5,200 to "host" the event, $2,600 to "sponsor", and $1,000 to attend as a "friend."

Jones was scheduled to appear with Cooter's Garage Band at the fundraiser. He began performing with since he ended his political career in 2002 after an unsuccessful campaign against Eric Cantor for the Virginia House.